Saturday, March 14, 2009

Tiller to face charges

It looks like infamous late-term abortionist George Tiller is finally going to have to answser for some of his actions. Having lived in Wichita from 1999-2008 I can testify to the controversy that surrounds Dr. Tiller. He seems to have had a reckless disregard for Kansas' laws regarding late-term abortions. Of course, Tiller is just one example of this recklessness. The abortion industry is notorious for skirting laws and because of political connections there are rarely any prosecutions.

A writer for the Associated Press reports:

WICHITA, Kan. – For abortion opponents, the trial of one of the nation's few late-term abortion providers has been a long time coming, a chance for a little bit of justice after years of seeing their efforts thwarted.

To abortion-rights supporters, Dr. George Tiller's trial set to begin Monday is the culmination of repeated harassment, a witch hunt in which his foes have been willing to do anything and everything to gain a conviction.

Tiller and his Wichita clinic have been regular targets of anti-abortion demonstrations, including the 45-day "Summer of Mercy" event staged by Operation Rescue in 1991. His clinic was damaged by a pipe bomb in 1986, and in 1993 a protester shot him in both arms.

Abortion opponents contend Tiller illegally aborts fetuses that could survive outside the womb. Kansas law allows late-term abortions if two doctors agree that it is necessary to save a women's life or prevent "substantial and irreversible" harm to "a major bodily function," a phrase that's been interpreted to include mental health.

Tiller is charged with 19 misdemeanors alleging he failed to obtain the required second opinion from an independent physician that a late-term abortion is necessary. If convicted, the Wichita physician could face a year in the county jail or a fine of $2,500 for each charge.